Dreamworks  Episode n1: Mortal Console
by DaveM89ficzone
Summary: In this episode, King Julien challenges Shifu to a videogame contest, so Dave must train Shifu and make of him a great gameplayer in order not to let Julien take charge of everything!


**Hi guys, sorry but I didn't find a suitable category so I have to upload all my fics in the 'Shrek' one.**

**Here's my first episode of the DREAMWORKS serie featuring all your favorite DWK characters living together in this big studio/park and leaded by the fun-loving human teenager Dave, who's always busy finding a way to keep his buddies off trouble. The main characters are Dave, Tai Lung, Shrek and Donkey, the Penguins of Madagascar, King Julien and special guest Otis the cow from Barnyard. Have fun with the first episode: 'Mortal console'!**

MORTAL CONSOLE

A day like no other.  
"A fantastic day," said Dave sipping some milk and chewing a slice of brioche. As every morning, his duty was to check and make sure everything was ok in DWK. He had over 100 characters to look after every day, and for him there was no difference between Saturday and Monday. "They'll never pay me enough," he always said. However, he used to have a wonderful time once outside from room to door; there were his best friends waiting for him. After all, it's not a common thing to have a DreamWorks VIP as best friend.  
Somebody knocked. _This must be Tai Lung_, said Dave to himself, but once he opened the door he almost got choked with milky coffee. To his surprise, however, there was Shifu.  
"Hello, dear. Slept well?"  
"I ... I think so ..." Dave nodded.  
"No, no, forget it. Such a beautiful day, isn't it?"  
"Yes, it is ..." Now, Dave was definitely smelling something fishy. "Wonderful."

"Yeah, if it wasn't for that huge thing over there." Shifu pointed to a six-legged metal monster menacingly prowling around there.  
"But wh ... that is Gallaxar's robot probe! Oooh, ooooh, eeeh eeeh!" Still wearing his pajamas, Dave started shouting loudly down the street. "Whoever is in that thing, please stop!"  
Once the robot had focused him, it walked toward him with long strides, and stopped in front of him before he could get crushed. Dave put his hand over his eyes for fear of being run down. When the robot door finally swung open, revealing the driver inside, the surprise of Dave turned to anger.

"Julien!"

"Ahm, King Julien, please. Since this morning you were hard of hearing, I decided to pull you out of bed in another way. You should thank me!"  
"Thank _you_? But you're the worst plague that ever hit the ... Aahh!" Dave had no time to finish the sentence he found himself dangling in the air, hung by one of the robot's six legs.  
"Ah, you're not in a position to talk now, so shut up and leave your soon-to-be-king alone!"  
"Julien, how can I put this, you've proclaimed himself king! You have no royal blood and dynasty neither. So let go of me or ... "  
"Or what?" Julien laughed up his sleeve. "A slave has no say in the matter; he has just to execute his king's order. So you 'shut up and listen to my proposal."  
After saying that, Julien came closer to Dave's mouth, and then whispered: "I propose a video games battle."

Dave breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, and what's next? There's nothing for me to worry about then, and it's the world's most awesome player you're talking to! Say goodbye to your dreams of power."  
"Woo, wo wo wo brake!" said Julien, waving his arms. "I'm not finished yet! It won't be you who'll fight against me! IT'LL BE... "Julien came even closer, and whispered something to Dave, who turned pale. Then Julien put him down, closed the robot door and walked away, snickering.  
Meanwhile, all the DreamWorks characters had gathered there, and when Dave was safe and sound again, they crowded him asking thousands of questions.

"What did he say?" "What does he want?"  
"Fellas, I beg you ... he told me ..."  
"Can I touch his feet?"  
"No, Mort. He... Well, may I have your attention for a moment?"  
Everyone fell silent.  
"King Julien has Gallaxar on his side. If this challenge will turn out well, we have nothing to worry about."  
"And then what's the big deal" said Stella. "You spent half of your life playing those electronic toys!"  
"Uh... It actually ain't so" Dave stammered, insecure. "Second, it is not me that will challenge Julien."

"So who's the lucky one?" Shifu asked with fake concern.

Dave shuddered.

"You."

"WHAT?" snapped Shifu, and all others after him.

"Exactly" said Dave, trying to calm them down. He expected for panic, but they all gave a shout of joy and brought Shifu in triumph. A pig rang the gong, but Dave took it away. "What are you doing? Don't encourage them!" He chased the crowd which was heading toward his house, though, not everyone was convinced in the crowd.  
"I think I have already seen a scene like that," said Po, scratching his head.

When the crowd had dumped Shifu in Dave's room, he tried to justify himself or at least to slap someone in the face, but the door closed with a thud, condemning him to his doom.  
"Aaaaaargh! But how can I maintain my inner peace in moments like this! Ah, but I will not. I'll never yield ..."

Shifu noticed Dave's shape sitting on the bed with legs crossed.

"That's about time! You have to go out there and tell them all there's a misunderstanding. Never, for any reason, I will yield to something like that, you know I won't!"  
"Enough!" Dave exploded with an unexpected charisma. "Julien may have chosen you, but when I'm through with you, I promise you wish he hadn't!"  
"You just stop fooling around; or else I'm going to tie you up in the chandelier!"  
At this point Dave's self control was starting to give him up. "Ooh all right, I was just looking for some respect but please, Master, it's difficult enough itself...I have only three days to turn you into a video game champion and..."  
"Absolutely not! It is not good for a kung fu master to be interested in these crude forms of entertainment belonging to a civilization that doesn't even fits him! I'm giving up, I hope I made myself clear."

"But you can not surrender, Master! Julien has aliens on his side, and if you refuse to join the tournament, I can tell you he won't have any mercy! He will bring us all to slavery and ..." Shifu frowned, his bushy eyebrows in disbelief.

"You have no idea of what might happen! Well, just think of all the people who esteem you, all your fans! Think of me, master, begging under a bridge with a box as a bed and ... "  
"If you're finished whining, I'll see what I can do."  
"I count on you!" Dave breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank..."  
"Do not thank me so fast. And stay away, I can smell your-"  
"Come on, Master, I brushed my teeth this morning!"  
"I wasn't talking about your breath." Shifu sighed. _Before I begin, before I finish_, he said to himself.

"Okay. This square and bright thing is called console."  
"It looks like a litter box."  
Dave sighed. "And this is called joy pad. You need it to control the actions of the console."  
"The joy thing is connected to the litter?"  
Dave looked at him with a sly smile. "...Anyway. Today we'll start with something basic ... I thought of Pac Man. Dave turned the console on with a slipper. "Now pay attention: The goal of the game is to eat all the balls in the maze without being affected by ghosts."  
"Eating balls, huh?" Shifu asked defiantly. "I'm not surprised you teenagers have the hysterics."  
"Mmmmmhh! Master, would you listen to me, please? Now, look at the character. It moves through the streets in four basic directions, up, down, left and right. According to the direction you want it to go, press the corresponding key. Got it?"

He put himself in a position that Shifu could follow both game and the movements of his fingers. The funny yellow figure was moving here and there as if panic-stricken, and its rivals were simply a bunch of Chinese dumplings with a pair of fish eggs.

"Let me try."  
Dave gave the joy pad to his friend. It didn't take too many seconds before Pac Man was hit by the dumplings as fading out by turning on its diameter.  
"Too late; you must give the command a few before the character faces the bend."  
"Tsk," Shifu snorted, but he didn't give up. "Come on, let's try again" Dave encouraged him.

The second time, Pac Man was able to turn, but when a ghost cut in, Pac Man dropped dead again. "Oh, but...!"  
"It's all a matter of technique, Master. You have to try to foresee your opponent moves! You should have already had experiences like that."  
"Yes, yes! But I cannot get used to moving myself around with this thing!" Shifu roared as he slammed the joy pad on the ground. Dave just had time to seize on it. He knocked his jaw onto a tile, but at least the joy pad was safe.  
"We have only one life, Master. I suggest you relax and stay focus."

"Right, right. Now let me try again. Inner peace, inner peace, peace..."

-GAME OVER -

"Maybe it was appropriate to put the game on pause."

The whole California quaked because of Master Shifu's deafening shout. This time the joy pad smashed on the floor.  
"Shifu! But you...! Damn it!" Dave sighed, shocked.  
"Don't you dare blame me! I do not really want to become a crazy maniac like you kids of this generation! When I was young in China we didn't play around with nonsense like this."

"You sure didn't. But you..."

"Besides the fact every time you lose you must start over again! There must be a perverse mind behind all this! Ah, but you won't throw me into this insanity! Not me."

"Then you give up? Are you letting Julien become our leader?"

Shifu, who was already heading for the door, stopped and lowered his ears.

"Being a leader is not easy for me, and I, I would have done well without this problem very gladly, believe me. But it is not about me or you; this is about all of us. We will all pay if you surrender."

For a long minute Dave feared Shifu would cross the threshold and disappeared forever. But fortunately he didn't. Without turning back, he took a deep breath and said, "Proceed."

"You won't regret it."

"I already do."

Dave yawned. It was only half-past noon, yet the morning with Shifu had worn him out. And the afternoon wouldn't have been less wearing, not to mention the following two days. What he needed now was a good lunch. Or at least, he hoped so.  
"Hey Shrek, thanks for waiting. Seems like they're all gone!"  
"No problem. I needed to distract myself a bit. Just think that this morning, Zenzy fell between into the marzipan goodies tray and Donkey was about to eat him, not to talk about Puss! Ah, he swallowed the three blind mice in one bite, and guess who had to put the finger in the throat?"  
"I imagine the disgust..."  
"Not much, actually. The fact is that I had not even had to put it into his mouth. As soon as he saw it he spat them out and rushed away."

_I can tell_... Dave thought in his mind. "If this makes feel you any better, my morning has been a nightmare either..."

"Aye, I heard of the wild-goose chase. Well, good luck! If you can teach it to Shifu, you can teach it to anyone; even to me!"

Shrek was always very blunt. Moreover, it was useless to sugar the pill that was really hopeless. "I actually feel a bit guilty to go to have some lunch at a time like that," he admitted, "But I can not help it, I need to have a rest, and Shifu was literally out bursting."

"Tsk, I wouldn't worry if I were you. Julien is a great talker, but he never scared anyone."

"Are you kidding? Do you know what he did last time? He threatened to raze the whole DreamWorks area with one of the Gallaxar's probes, instead the time before that he tried to fry me in hot oil and batter, just to get something to eat while celebrating the 'Julienary', as he calls it... But where did you bring me?"

«Al's cauldron slop», no? "

"Ugh! But food is so foul in here!"

"Exactly. Yum! And then the landlord is a big fan of me, so I always get free lunch."

Dave grimaced, and then he followed the ogre inside the pub. 30 minutes later, he dashed outside the door staggering and burping rhythmically.

"That's it! Like I always say, better out ..."

"Hush! Don't -burp- even say it. Now, back to DWK."

That night, Dave and Shifu were the last to arrive at the big table for dinner. As heading to his seat, Dave had nearly slammed into a tree, and not because he hadn't seen it, but because that day had knocked him down and lunch had done the rest. He wasn't hungry at all. He was wearily reaching his seat at the head of the table when he suddenly felt some small and furry paws climbing onto his head until a face peeped in from upside down.

"Halt! How dare you pass by without bowing before your king?"

"Julien, I told you you're not the king, and never will be!"

"Oh, oh, oh, you're wrong! It's just a matter of a little more than forty-eight hours and everything you see will be mine, MINE!"

"Just you wait!" Shifu cried out, turning up. "It's not said the last word."

"Oh no, well ... I'm gonna say that: 'Goodbye, losers! "Oh. But these are two words ...

"Wait and see!" Dave snapped. "Shifu is learning faster than you think, and the day after that, you're gonna eat your words back, letter by letter! Will he, master? ...master?"

Shifu had walked away, withdrawn.

"You'll see, once my servant you're gonna be so busy washing the royal feet and cookin' you won't have time to suffer. I should find some time for that too, actually."

With a long jump, Julien climbed a tree and disappeared where the light of torches couldn't light.

"Eh" said Dave.

"Since yesterday you managed to win three games out of eighty-six, I want to introduce you to a kind of video game you'll probably like better…enough Pac Man, now let's try ... Kung Fu Panda!"  
"What?" said Shifu. "There's a game about us?"  
"Welcome to the wonderful world of merchandising," said Dave as he put the disc into the console. "This type is called 'beat'em up'. I suggest you choose your character. I'm gonna pick Po, hoping to make it a bit more... interesting, to you.

The game began, and this time Shifu didn't have to work that hard to get used to the keys. Once you learn the basic moves, you can use and combine them to find out some new ones. Still, it wasn't enough yet.  
"Gotcha, I won" said Dave. "Well Po's belly blow is unique; it works even in video games..." "Well, what are you waiting for? I want to try again! It's not bad."

"Really? Is that what I've just heard?"  
"Come on, let me try again! Now that I started to realize how it works! Maybe."  
Although being continually defeated, Shifu didn't lose hope. He tried over and over again, his slender fingers swiftly rushing from key to key, until something unbelievable happened."  
"Ha!" Shifu exulted as he threw the joy pad on the couch.  
"You got me" said Dave in a whisper. "So we have some hope! Do you understand what this means?"

Shift smiled happily. Then Dave took a look at the clock. Oh dear, how late! See ya after lunch, I have a plan."

"King J...I mean, Julien! Listen to me, I've got to say."  
Julien was lying on his royal deck chairs lounging about, the royal feet crossed on Mort's head and lemonade in his hands. "Hello Mort" said Dave.  
"Hi!"  
"What do you want, my soon-to-be subject?"  
"Mmm...I wanted to know ... How does it work exactly, I mean, for example, who's supposed to choose the kind of game, and things like that ... "  
"The rival, of course!"

"Really?" _He's not so smart after all_, Dave said to himself. "In this case, do not be too sure about winning."

"Why not? I_ am_ sure! You know why? Because ... I ... uh ... ah yes! Because I have a secret weapon you don't have! Ah, ah, ah, you don't have! Ah, ah ... "  
"Don't be so sure about it" Dave spat out before walking away outraged. Julien's sentence had more effect on him than he thought. In the afternoon Shifu beat him again, but it was no use. That night he barely ate something for dinner. Once everyone was off, Shifu approached him. "Are you okay?"  
"I am so sorry I dragged you into this mess. Maybe I should really let Julien take charge, I don't know."  
"But now there is a possibility, I've just defeated the worst chronic-game player two times today! Someone once told me that I only needed to believe. I thought it was impossible, until I tried."  
Dave smiled. "Maybe you're right. Well, what's done is done. Have some sleep now. Tomorrow morning you'll have to do the best you can. "

The next day, at six o'clock, the sun rose on time and Julien with it. The crowd gradually gathered around the arena featuring with a console, two joy pads and two huge televisions. Dave started wringing her hands. Julien gave him a knowing look, but Dave didn't turn away from it. Then, the morning wind began to blow from the west, joining Shifu in his walk to the challenge. His face was inscrutable, and Dave was surprised to see him so self-controlled in a moment like that. All he was wondering about was: What in the heck was Julien's secret weapon?  
"This way," said Julien, waving his hand. Shifu came along and, in the unreal silence of early morning, took his place and pick up the joy pad.

"What game did you choose?" asked Julien.  
"Kung Fu Panda." The answer of Shifu was greeted by a small chuckle through the crowd.  
"Naturally," said Julien, turning on the console.

Julien makes them change the game so that he could impersonate himself. But apart from that, everything went smoothly: no tricks, no deceit. The two opponents played to death, kicking each other's virtual butts till they reached the incredible score of 6/3 for Shifu. At that point Julien called a break, and Dave found himself a bit 'of hope.

"You're not bad," said Julien. "But it takes more than that to beat the future king. It's time to reveal my secret weapon!" Dave started gnawing his nails emitting a sound of a jackhammer. Julien made an evil sneer, turned around and took something from behind, just like Dave figured out. He saw that he was taking something and showing it to the public. It was the most incredible thing he had ever seen.

"...Mort?"  
"Hello!"  
"Pff...Him?" said Shifu.

"Mort, listen!" said Julien. "If you win this match, I'll let you touch the royal feet."  
"The_ feet_?"

Dave started trembling. "I'M ON MY WAY!" roared Mort as he reached the seat and letting the second round begin.

The game turned from 6/3 - 8/7 for Mort, who had lost any trace of the cuddly lemur, now he rather looked like a fury melting the joy pad keys in its iron grip. Shifu was clearly in trouble but he didn't give up. Then, it came the moment for the final match. There was one last hope. It was now that Shifu took advantage of Mort's weariness to give him a sound trashing. He reduced the virtual Julien to 1% and the real Julien was covering his eyes in order not to see the massacre of its image. Then Mort when he tried a last desperate attack. He pressed two buttons on the left, one right and behind the joy pad. Then his cybernetic character rose in the air and shone out with a wave of power that smashed up everything in the way; it was so powerful that a wave of wind swept over Dave and the crowd. Shifu had lost.

"YES! Move it, move it! Yeah! I rule! You all bow down, starting from you," Julien cried out, knocking Dave's head with a bamboo stick, making him fall on his knees.

"That's better! Now bow down you all!"

Shifu clenched his fists and closed his eyes as he walked to his room, determined not to know anything further about it.

"Very well," continued Julien, "From now on the slavery begins, for I, King Julien, I am your king now. Um ... Did I say I'm your king?"

Mort watched the scene, petrified. "All...slaves?"  
"Exactly, Mort."

"Why?"

"Because it is what the king has decided. So keep your mouth hushily-hush and scram!"

"And what about the feet?"

"Forget it! Stay away! You got it! Arrgh, you're so boring!"

Mort started to cry, and Maurice called Julien.

"According to the "Good King's Book", a king must always listen to what his people have to say and fill his needs. Article No. 52 page 793 paragraph 6."

"What?" Julien picked up the book and noticed that, in fact, it was flawless. "Phew" he snorted. "All right, Mort? The feet."

"Hurray!" exulted Mort clinging to the foot of Julien.

"Aehm" Dave cleared his throat in order to draw the attention on him. "My beloved King, your main duty is to hear the opinion of your people that is... us all." Then he turned to the DWK crowd.

"Who does want Julien as sovereign?"  
"Me!" said Mort, hopping and clapping. Just a single gesture of Dave and a trapdoor opened beneath Mort's feet and dragged him into the oblivion.

"Who does NOT want Julien as sovereign?"

"WE DON'T!" Everyone raised their hand.

"Me! Me! Pick me!" said Donkey, jumping around.

"Sob" Julien sighed. "All right... As your king, my first official move will be... relieved being a king."

A warm "Hurray!" rose from the crowd that gathered around Dave and threw it into the air, then brought him in triumph.

"Eh, eh! Oh, oh! No, no, stop! Oh, well ... I gotta admit I deserve it," Dave said with a laugh, and then he ran towards Shifu.

"No matter what happened today. Thank you for not giving up. I'm the leader again now and I have to thank you for this."

"And I thank you for giving me this opportunity."

"You betcha" smiled Dave.

A day like any other.

"A fantastic day," said Dave enjoying the usual coffee and brioche. He already knew everything would have gone smoothly at DreamWorks, that day. On the other hand, after an adventure like that one, he really deserved some peace and tranquility now. After having his daily breakfast, he allowed himself a quiet walk through the yard. It was a beautiful day of spring and the sun was glowing up there, high and undisturbed. The temperature was perfect for a day spent lounging about, so Dave came back and took a couple of deck chairs and an umbrella in front of the pool. He met Shifu along the way.

"Good morning Master, what a beautiful day we have today, huh?"  
"Yeah."

"Well, if you want you can drop in this afternoon for a game, what do you think?

"Oh, no, no, thanks. After what happened I do not want to hear about video games anymore. I prefer real life."

"If you say so. See you soon!"

Stretching his arms, Dave opened the beach umbrella and sat on the deck chair. "I guess I could sleep a few hours more. Besides, I have the impression that today nothing dangerous is gonna happen."

"Ah ah ah, abound Maurice, plenty of it! And now a little bit of this ... Aha! How brilliant of me to steal these strange bottles to Professor Dr. Cockroach! According to these notes, I'll soon be having absolute power over the mind of everyone! I'll be the king, again! Ah, Ah, Ah..."

END OF THE EPISODE


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